Resilient Rickie Overcomes The Rules

By Jason Logan Created: February 4, 2019

Jason Logan

Jason Logan

LOGAN'S ALLEY

Getty Images

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 03: Rickie Fowler plays his shot from the ninth tee during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale on February 03, 2019 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Bits
Sorry for the tardiness — still trying to get my brain to work again after that Grass Growing vs. Paint Drying of a Super Bowl. Man, the Fyre Festival was a more successful show than that ×× I was going to post a snarky tweet Sunday morning that a final-round pairing featuring Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas would have been better had we genuinely not known who was going to win, the assumption being that Fowler would find a way to blow it. Happy I didn’t but even happier that turned out not to be the case. Full marks to Fowler for that victory, given all that happened (more on that below) ×× Us scribes/pundits like to get on Fowler’s case for underperforming throughout his career but I’ve always said he’s the tour’s best role model right now. Who else brings more kids out to the golf course? ×× Maybe it’s the case every season but it feels 2018-19 is the year of Guy Wins After Putting New Gear Into Play. Charles Howell III after switching to Titleist back at the RSM Classic; Xander Schauffele with the latest Callaway clubs; Justin Rose after making his big move to Honma; Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau with the new Cobra driver; Fowler after changing to and a TaylorMade ball (and Canadian-made underwear!); and Dustin Johnson in Saudi Arabia with TaylorMade’s new big stick ×× Quick: Who’s the defending champion this week at Pebble Beach. No way you got Ted Potter, Jr. in under five seconds ×× The PGA of Canada has announced RBC is back as title sponsor for its national scramble, which more than doubled in number of participants last year. No mention in the press release of Cabot Links as the championship venue but I’d expect that to come soon. The Cape Breton resort has been a massive draw for the event.

BitesI was 100 per cent in favour of the rule change prohibiting caddies from lining up their player from behind, which was commonplace on the LPGA Tour and was becoming more popular on the PGA Tour. But that penalty on Denny McCarthy at the Waste Management (later rescinded) was absurd. If you missed it, McCarthy’s caddie was behind his player discussing yardage and target but moved away in plenty of time — in fact he moved prior to McCarthy backing off the ball to begin his pre-shot routine. Thankfully saner heads prevailed ×× Haotong Li was penalized for something similar two weeks ago in Dubai, but in his case he was taking his stance with his caddie still behind him. That one seemed bad too but it didn’t bother me as much — the onus is on the player and caddie to know the new rules and the language does state that the caddie can’t be there when the player is taking his stance ×× Speaking of Li, that man goes after the ball with the driver, doesn’t he? Full on aggressive cuts. He’s no Matthew Wolff, but he does rip it ×× Prediction: The amateur Wolff threatens to win a tour event this year after getting in on a sponsor’s invite ×× It’s six degrees out here in Toronto and it feels like 26 after that recent cold snap. Where are my clubs? ×× I was looking forward to Paul Azinger in the booth for NBC and for the most part I think he was fine but here’s hoping he doesn’t do any more wet-weather events for a while. I’m “hydroplaned” out. So plaaaaayyyyyed, Paul ×× Though I’ve always been a fan of his ball-striking, I’ve never been a big fan of Sergio Garcia, who was disqualified in Saudi Arabia basically for a few temper tantrums that caused damage to some greens. Video of him blowing a top in a bunker surfaced Sunday. (Audio up, even if you don’t speak Spanish!) You never know what’s going on with someone on a personal front so I’ll avoid any jokes but if Garcia did this or something similar to a green than he deserved what he got.

Barbs
The Rules of Golf is the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it? Except in the case of Fowler on the 11th hole Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, it wasn’t a particular rule that caused angst, but rather the lack of a provision in the rulebook for the scenario that played out. In other words, Fowler wasn’t penalized because his ball rolled into a penalty area after he took a drop (actually placed it); he was dinged because his ball was in play (it had come to rest) and then needed to be removed from a hazard via a drop or by playing a shot (which under the new rules Fowler could have done — if it was practical — while grounding his club). Basically, it was no different than had his original pitch shot initially held up on the bank and then rolled into the water 20 seconds later. The problem is that the rules don’t safeguard for a ball entering a penalty area without it being struck. So it wasn’t a “stupid rule” that cost Fowler; it was that his scenario had never played out before (or at least never played out in a professional tournament on national television) and therefore had likely not been considered by the rule makers. The silver lining is that this situation will undoubtedly be addressed when the rules are reviewed next, the same way the Dustin Johnson-at-the-U.S.-Open debacle led to the penalty for a ball moving on a green to be removed. Anyway, huge kudos once again to Fowler for taking everything in stride and making a couple of birdies coming home to get over the hump in Phoenix. That ought to serve him well in future major championships.

Obscure thought of the week: Within reason, you should be allowed to bring snacks into a bar. Like a bag of chips or something. Agree or disagree?